1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an active slide and the preparation method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of a plasma deposition method to deposit aldehyde groups and negatively charged groups on a matrix to form an active slide containing functional groups thereon.
2. Description of the Related Arts
There are many protein immobilization methods which are available to immobilize protein on different kinds of materials. For example, chemical activation, entrapment and crosslinking are well known in the art. However, these conventional methods suffer from many drawbacks, such as forming products of low stability and low activity and the inability of any one method to work well with a variety of proteins.
In conventional processes, the surface of the matrix has to be treated with silanization. In this treatment, the surface of the matrix is activated based on its material, followed by crosslinking via a crosslinker such as glutaldehyde to immobilize biomaterials on the matrix. The shortcomings of the method include long period of reaction time and low reaction efficiency. Thus, the resulting immobilized biomaterials are usually low activity. JP Nos. 59-28476 and 61-87699 disclose the technology of immobilizing proteins on a matrix using plasma activation. In this method, free radicals are activated on both the matrix surface and protein to form a covalent bonding between them. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,028,657, 5,171,779 and 5,306,768 disclose the method for the activation of protein and functional groups on the polymer material using plasma technology to facilitate the immobilization. In these prior arts, plasma is used only for the activation of the matrix surface and protein to generate free radicals to immobilize proteins therein.
Another immobilization method is to activate free radicals from the matrix surface in a plasma chamber, and then introduce aldehyde groups to provide a surface useful for covalent bonding. Thus, proteins are covalently bound to the surface of the matrix. This has been disclosed in JP No. 63-185383 and Hans J. Griesser et al, 1999, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 544:9-20.
In these prior arts, the deposition of aldehyde groups directly onto a matrix using plasma deposition to form a polymerized layer of actively functional groups is not disclosed. In addition, the co-deposition of negatively charged groups (e.g. acidic functional groups) onto the matrix to improve the orientational bioactivity of the bio-materials during bonding thereto is not disclosed.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a method for preparing an active slide, comprising: (a) introducing a monomer containing an aldehyde group, or a mixture of a monomer containing an aldehyde group and an acidic functional group provider into a plasma chamber; and (b) depositing said aldehyde group and acidic functional group onto the surface of a matrix using plasma deposition to form a slide comprising a layer of polymerized actively functional groups thereon. Prior to introducing the monomer and/or acidic functional group provider into the chamber, a cleaning step for the matrix and chamber may be performed.
Another aspect of the present invention provides an active slide, comprising: (i) a matrix; and (ii) a layer of actively functional groups polymerized by a monomer containing an aldehyde group using plasma deposition, wherein said layer is deposited onto the matrix.
Still another aspect of the present invention provides an active slide with a negatively charged surface, comprising: (i) a matrix; and (ii) a layer of actively functional groups polymerized by a mixture of a monomer containing an aldehyde group and an acidic functional group provider using plasma deposition, wherein said layer is deposited onto the matrix.
Yet still another aspect of the present invention provides an active slide microarray, comprising: (i) a matrix; (ii) a layer of actively functional groups polymerized by a monomer containing an aldehyde group using plasma deposition, wherein said layer is deposited onto the matrix; and (iii) a biologically active material, which is immobilized onto said layer of actively functional groups.
Still another aspect of the present invention provides an active slide microarray with a negatively charged surface, comprising: (i) a matrix; (ii) a layer of actively functional groups polymerized by a mixture of a monomer containing an aldehyde group and an acidic functional group provider using plasma deposition, wherein said layer is deposited onto the matrix; and (iii) a biologically active material, which is immobilized onto said layer of actively functional groups.
The matrix used herein may be an organic or inorganic matrix (i.e. matrix-independent). However, if an inorganic matrix is employed, an interlayer polymerized by a monomer of an organic compound containing silicon is deposited onto the inorganic matrix, and is located between the inorganic matrix and the layer of actively functional groups.